The future is now for the Edmonton Oilers. Sitting on top of the Pacific Division, the Oilers are playing meaningful hockey in December for the first time in a very long time. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are statistically on pace for career years, Mikko Koskinen looks like a number one goaltender with Mike Smith as a steady backup, the team has a solid power-play and is under great management with new coach, Dave Tippett and general manager, Ken Holland.

With the emergence of the Oilers as a Western Conference contender, whats next for Ken Holland's team? Stay the course with the current roster or start looking at options for improvement? The Oilers are led by the tandem of McDavid and Draisaitl, who are at the top of the league in scoring, but the pair has accounted for 41% of the team's goals, meaning the rest of the roster isn't providing the depth scoring needed to sustain this success.

The Oilers are cash strapped and have minimal cap space to work with in terms of making immediate moves. They would need to look at moving players like Adam Larsson ($4.16 million), Kris Russell ($4 million), Alex Chiasson ($2.15 million) and Sam Gagner ($3.15 million) in order to free up space to bring in a scoring winger or a third-line center. If they are able to free up some space, there are a couple of options that could work for the Oilers.

Ottawa Senators, Jean-Gabriel Pageau is the best dollar value available for the Oilers to look at. The 27-year old center is having a great start in 2019-20 with 20 points in 27 games. Pageau has an affordable cap hit at $3.1 million and is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

Los Angeles Kings, Tyler Toffoli could be on the move with the Kings on the decline over the past couple of seasons. The former 30 goal scorer could regain his form playing with fellow Ontario native, Conor McDavid. Toffoli carries a cap hit of $4.6 million and is also set to become a UFA at the end of the year.

New Jersey Devils, Taylor Hall because, well, this is the trade that the internet world is dying for. A return for Hall in Edmonton would create a dangerous ability for the Oilers to roll two lines by reuniting Hall with former linemate, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. This would be a high-end option for the Oilers to pursue during the season and they may be better off going after Hall in the summer if he doesn't sign with another team prior. The Oilers would need to clear serious cap space and would most likely need to need to include their 1st round pick and players like Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg or Kailer Yamamoto to make a deal like this.

Ken Holland and his team in Edmonton finally have the ability to make a push into the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season. The team looks very good right now and would only improve with a team-friendly deal before the February trade deadline. It very well could be time for the Edmonton Oilers to go for it.

Source: Sportsnet

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